Aidi Teaching, Learning and Innovation Centre

Aidi prides itself on being at the forefront of education, working with the best partners, research teams and innovators to keep pushing the bounderies of international education.

The Aidi Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Center is dedicated to supporting our students and teachers in developing the competencies needed to be truly successful 21st century citizens. Globalization and technological transformation are rapidly changing our world. The integration of the global economy and increased mobility require highly flexible and inter-culturally competent citizens. Global environmental, social, and technological issues, such as the rise of artificial intelligence, will create unprecedented social changes and demand technologically savvy and innovative problem-solvers. Advanced research in education is calling on schools to provide holistic learning environments that foster socio-emotional competence as well as academic excellence. The Aidi Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Center is dedicated to providing teachers and students with the tools they need to engage with the world as it is now, and the world of the future.

Collecting, Creating, and Sharing Cutting-Edge Research in Curriculum and Professional Development

Innovation in teaching and learning is about more than technology. The Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Center works to distill the best in global educational research and use it to support both our students and our teachers. Keeping abreast of best practices from organizations such as UNESCO and with advanced university teaching and learning research centers such as Harvard’s Project Zero helps us to make constant improvements to curricula, professional development, and teaching practices.

We also act as a research and development center for our own innovative practices and work to contribute to global education improvement by presenting our work at peer-reviewed educational research conferences internationally. We have an excellent track record of success including presentations at UNESCO TECH, JALT, IAFOR, Mount Kenya University, and the National Institute of Education in Singapore among others. Research presentations generated by the Teaching, Learning, and Innovation team include:

(2018). English for Academic Purposes: Enhancing Critical Digital Literacy Outcomes. International Academic Forum Asian Conference on Language Learning, Kobe, Japan

(2017). Upgrading 21st Century Skills and Education for Sustainable Development though Digital Changemaker Speaking Projects. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Transforming Education Conference for Humanity, Visakhapatnam, India

(2017). Building Staff and Student Capacity for 21st Century Skills in the Language Classroom. iELT-Con International English Language Teaching Conference, Penang, Malaysia

(2017). English Language Education and National Development: Strategies for Maximizing Positive Impact. English Language in Education and Research Conference, Kigali, Rwanda

(2016). Transforming Lives via Leadership and Language. Japan Association for Language Teaching (JALT) International Conference, Nagoya, Japan

(2016). Empowering Students and Communities: Glocalized TESOL Curriculum for Sustainable Development. Thailand TESOL Conference, Khon Kaen, Thailand

(2015). Enhancing EAL Programs with the Education for Sustainable Development Initiative. TESOL International Conference, National Institute of Education, Singapore

 Fostering 21C Skills and “Individual Virtuosity” through Innovative Curricula

21st century skills are not all new. However, they are becoming increasingly important due to the changes in the world around us. The ability to think creatively, to take multiple perspectives as critical thinkers, to problem-solve, to communicate effectively, and work effectively both in teams and as individuals have become pre-requisites for success. Ensuring that these skills are developed fully in our students is a core mission. Individual virtuosity refers to the unique talent each student can learn to develop to a high degree of proficiency. The cultivation of individual virtuosity requires opportunities for students to pursue their passions through options like Project-Based Learning and a wide range of extra-curricular activities. When paired with research-based practices such as metacognitive training, visual thinking, and global competencies, students have the opportunity to learn transferable skills that will be useful for the rest of their lives and which are genuinely engaging. 

 Developing Advanced Digital/Technological Literacy

Critical digital literacy is a core 21st century skill that increasingly seen to be an essential education outcome. The Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Center works to support the acquisition of a range of digital literacy competencies. Among these many competencies, the cultivation of technological skills in coding and robotics are becoming increasingly important and are not only useful for future job prospects but can also help to improve logic and facilitate development in other subjects. To this end, the Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Center helps to support enhanced technological curriculum and extra-curricular activities. This includes support for a fully integrated technology curriculum as well as embedding digital literacy skills through a range of subjects. A robotics lab and enhanced computer-based learning capacities are in current development. As part of our commitment to being on the leading edge of innovation we also invite EdTech start-ups into our school to utilize new systems as they emerge.

Providing Leading-Edge Professional Development for Teachers

Given the rate of change in the world of education, it is essential that teachers have access to high quality professional development opportunities. The Aidi Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Center is an accredited Cambridge professional development center that is authorized to deliver courses for Cambridge certificates and diplomas in teaching and learning. Courses currently run every semester. We also provide targeted training for specific topics such as project-based learning and curriculum development.

 Cultivating Global Competency, International Leadership, and Outreach in Education

The Aidi Teaching, Learning, and Innovation Center is proud to support efforts to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which represent key targets for building an equitable, sustainable, peaceful, and healthy future. To this end we engage deeply with research on Global Competencies, Global Citizenship Education (GCED), Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and work to provide support to other schools and to our community. As well as in-house research and development, we seek to engage leaders in this field though participation in events such as the Harvard University Think Tank on Global Education. With regard to outreach, as well as local initiatives, we are currently working with Mount Kenya University in Rwanda on a project for digital literacy training for teachers as well as supporting the creation of an Education for Sustainable Development oriented teaching degree.